1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus and a data processing method for transmitting predetermined data to an external apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The LAN technologies can provide a network environment in which users can operate various data processing devices, such as multifunction peripherals, scanners, and printers. For example, in a LAN network, users of information processing devices (i.e., host computers) can share a scanner function of a multifunction peripheral and store image data read by a scanner in an arbitrary host computer in the network.
In the network, a user of a multifunction peripheral can designate, on an operation panel, a host computer as a destination of image data and can directly transmit the image data read by the scanner to the designated host computer.
More specifically, image data read by a scanner can be converted (formatted) into PDF or TIFF image data and can be transmitted as an attached file of an electronic mail to a host computer according to the SMTP protocol. [E]Furthermore, a server message block (SMB) can be used to transmit the image data to a host computer.
In the operation for transmitting the image data to the host computer using the SMB, the user operating the multifunction peripheral is required to accurately input an ID (i.e., a host name) of the host computer (i.e., transmission destination) and a folder path (i.e., storage destination) that stores the image data. Furthermore, the user is required to accurately input a user name and a password to access the folder.
As discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-274102, an image reading apparatus can retrieve destination information (e.g., host name or folder name) before starting SMB transmission of image data. Then, the image reading apparatus displays a list of retrieval result on a touch panel to let a user select a desired destination.
According to the above-described technique, a data processing device (i.e., a transmitter of image data) can simply set information required for transmission of the data.
However, when a data processing device inputs image data and performs data transmission using an SMB to an external apparatus, it is required that not only the information required for the data transmission is set in the data processing device but also a storage destination of the data is created in the external apparatus (i.e., a receiver of the data).
However, according to currently implemented techniques, a user of the data processing device (i.e., transmitter of the data) cannot make any operation for the data transmission unless the user accomplishes settings for the external apparatus (i.e., receiver of the data) that creates a storage destination of the data.